More homeowners have started paying their mortgage: Only 4.9% were behind in April 2021. Early-stage delinquencies dropped to 1%, but serious delinquencies rose to 3.3%.

NEW YORK – Overall delinquency rates dropped annually for the first time since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

According to the latest report from CoreLogic, 4.7% of mortgages in the United States were in some state of delinquency in April, down from 6.1% in April 2020. It’s the lowest overall delinquency rate observed in a year.

Early-stage delinquencies are down to 1% compared to 4.2% in April 2020, while foreclosure rates are unchanged at 0.3%.

However, the percentage of serious delinquencies rose to 3.3% from 1.2% in April 2020.

“Of all metros, Odessa and Midland, Texas, had the largest one-year jumps in serious delinquency rates, followed by Lake Charles, Louisiana, which was hit hard by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020,” says Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic.

“The sharp rebound in the economy, as well as a potent combination of government fiscal and regulatory help, is fueling unprecedented demand for residential housing and enabling people to buy and stay in their homes,” adds Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic.  “The drop in delinquency rates is a further manifestation of the benefits of these tail winds.”

Unless something unexpected happens, Martell expects “rates to continue to fall and home prices rise over the next 12-to-18 months.”

Source: Inman (07/13/21) Bondarenko, Veronika

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